Autumn Sail 7

A sailing race a thing of beauty is.  It’s graceful, regal, with no extraneous noise.  It’s slow . .  not to a swimmer but to the speeds “dinosaur fuel” propels us.  From left to right here, I think it’s America 2.0, Intrepid, Bernice, Black Watch, and  Pride of Baltimore II.

Black Watch (?)  takes Pride of Baltimore II’s stern as they both try to read the barely visible.

The beauty of a race like this is that it’s enjoyable even from some miles away, as

each rig differs a bit from the next and progress is about unhurried urgency . . . like “slow food.”

The hulls suggest  agelessness, although they benefit from a wealth of loving, skilled maintenance.

The Pride of Baltimore II always leaves me wondering, given that NYC is the place of the 99% AND the 1%, why the sixth boro and the supporting five can’t boast of a Pride of New York floating hither and yon around the globe.  What’s wrong here?

Gantry cranes are the early 21st century’s version of Walt Whitman’s “numberless  masts.”

Pride … , of course, does have an engine . . . two Cats, in fact, and it can

make a lot of noise if she chooses with her artillery.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.